I’ve got two birdbaths, several feeding stations, and I keep putting up birdhouses. I get dozens, sometimes hundreds, of birds in my yard on a regular basis. Mostly chipping sparrows, house finches, hummingbirds and willow goldfinches, but I get a few red-winged blackbirds and starlings. Recently, a woodpecker family moved into one of our older madrona trees. They are so much fun to watch. We occasionally get an owl, and even had a rooster pheasant this spring.
I provide several feeding stations, with suet, regular seed, sunflower seed, niger thistle, and nectar. I keep the two birdbaths clean, and put in about half a teaspoon of bleach when I fill them. This helps keep mites in check. I took an area of my yard and stopped mowing it. There’s a strip about 100 yards long and 4 to 10 feet wide, in the shape of a snake. My long term plans include putting in a pond, which will likely draw great blue herons.
All this has encouraged other wildlife, too. Squirrels, snakes, frogs, bunnies, deer, and who knows what else. Great fun, living here.
Yeah there are two hawks, they are a mated pair, and they’ve taken out a few pigeons around here.
I’ve found the bloody feathers.
But this one was just drinking–for the time being.
We made a little garden area in front of my building at work. A friend of mine had a birdbath he no longer wanted so I got it to put in the garden. It’s just so cool to see the birds splashing around in it. Makes the work day just a little better.
Yesterday and today, the feeder bands from Hurricane Dennis have caused a lot of rain. Last night just before dark, there were two bluejays taking refuge from the relentless rain by sitting on the part of my backyard fence that is covered by the overhang of the awning on my back deck. I sat on my back porch watching them just sitting there taking a break from the rain. They had to have seen me but it didn’t seem to bother em at all. It was cool just watching them sit there.
It’s been hot and dry here in Indiana, and the birds and other critters are having a field day at the birdbath and feeder in the yard. I also put a saucer of water down on the ground. Starlings, in particular, seem to be aggressive bathers — dip, shake, dip, shake, fly away, let another bird bathe. I feel like maybe I should put a bar of soap out and a fluffy towel out for them.
The squirrel has managed to get in the birdbath without tipping it over. And a couple of days ago, I looked out the window in the morning and a stray cat was on tippy-toes drinking out of it. He got yelled at . . . that water’s for the birds!
There are a couple patches of bare earth in the yard, one where I recently removed an old piece of tin roofing, and another in the adjoining lot, where a hole was dug for perk testing.
The birds have turned each of these spots into a dust bath, and can be seen vigorously dusting themselves at times. I’m sure it’s another form of pest control. As an added bonus, the dust baths have attracted several ant lions – I love watching them.
There are a couple birds, like the pheasant, that are attracted by the gravel in the driveway and access in the back. Crop birds need to swallow gravel to assist in digestion, IIRC.
So, food, water, shelter, dust baths, and gravel. Simple enough steps to encourage bird activity.
The other day, while sitting on my porch, with the light just right, I saw a bird chasing an insect through the air. It was pointed right at him. Just before he was to catch him, the insect ‘instantaneously’ changed his direction 180 degrees.
The bird came to a stop as fast as he could by turning his wings, basically, vertical. If it were a cartoon, he would also have been back pedaling with his feet while a loud screeeech sound effect played.
He caught right up to the insect and swallowed that son of a bitch whole.
I know birds catch insects. I just don’t think I’d ever seen it right in front of my eyes.